NEW YORK and LONDON, Nov. 6, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Madagascar Oil Limited (MOL), a privately held exploration and production company holding the largest current onshore exploration and development rights in Madagascar, has announced the appointment of George B Nilsen as Chief Operating Officer.
In announcing the appointment, Alex Archila, MOL's Chief Executive Officer, said: "George Nilsen joins MOL with a proven industry track record which spans over 28 years and I am looking forward to working closely with him to develop the company's significant assets. His upstream oil and gas industry experience in various management and technical positions, domestic and international, with a major oil company and other mid-sized independents will provide the company with fundamental operational and technical direction."
Mr. Nilsen's extensive oil and gas experience includes senior positions with Nuevo Energy, where he served as Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning and Asset Management and worked as part of a new management team that transformed the company by instituting disciplined capital spending, operating cost reductions, improved hedging strategies, monetizing non-core assets and acquisitions. Prior to that, Mr. Nilsen managed the Gulf Coast Division of Santa Fe Snyder where he was in charge of engineering, production and operations. Mr. Nilsen also held a variety of operational and engineering positions with Santa Fe Energy, Petro-Lewis Corporation and Gulf Oil Exploration and Production Company, spending more than half of his career involved with heavy oil developments and many years in international projects including new field developments in remote locations. Mr. Nilsen holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Bucknell University.
About Madagascar Oil
Madagascar Oil Ltd is an oil and gas exploration and production company focusing on the development of onshore heavy oil fields and exploration of onshore conventional oil and gas prospects in Madagascar. Through its subsidiaries, Madagascar Oil SA and Majunga Oil SARL, Madagascar Oil holds production sharing contracts for oil and gas exploration and development on six onshore blocks covering nearly 53,000 square kilometers (20,500 sq mi) in Madagascar, including a heavy oil field at Tsimiroro and an ultra heavy oil field at Bemolanga. Madagascar Oil and its management team are committed to supporting the country of Madagascar's efforts to develop its oil and gas resources in an efficient and environmentally sensitive manner and to contributing actively to the social and economic advancement of the island nation.